£1.1million Nigerian fraudsters jailed

THREE Nigerian men have been found guilty of £1.1million online fraud scheme.

Ayodeji Kareem, 39, Babatunde Fafore, 41 and Vincent Alonge, 32, were jailed for stealing £1.1 million from bank customers, whose personal details they acquired using a method called, Phishing, where sensitive information is obtained by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

According to one report, the conmen fleeced £219,000 from one of their victims by obtaining his signature from Companies House.

Kareem, Fafore and Alonge hacked into thousands of bank accounts but were caught after a victim returned from holiday to find an email message containing 600 names, addresses and passwords.

This led the Police Central E-crime Unit to Alonge and then Kareem and Fafore via 4,000 emails between them and other gang members.

Alonge, of Wimbledon, admitted possessing a false ID card and an article for use in fraud. He was found in possession of 12,745 sets of card details, 182 sets of account details and 22 bogus web pages.

Fafore, the principal conspirator, who was jailed for five years and seven months at Snaresbrook crown court, had the numbers for 490 cards, details of 1,982 bank accounts and three fake bank web pages.

The court also heard that the fraudsters chatted online while accessing victims' bank accounts. In one conversation in April 2008, Fafore typed: "Done, I did £3,019.23.”

Kareem of Peckham, south London, was sentenced to five years and five months and Alonge, from Wimbledon, south London, for two years.